Mohammed Dahlan, the Palestinian politician and former head of the secret police in Gaza, has abandoned his long-running libel claim in the High Court in London against Middle East Eye (a prominent London-based news organisation covering events in the Middle East) and its editor-in-chief, David Hearst.

The Jewish Chronicle has paid £50,000 in damages and published a full apology to the Trustees of Interpal, a UK-registered charity that provides relief and development aid to Palestinians in need, over the newspaper's publication of false and defamatory allegations in March 2019.

Shehbaz Sharif, President of the PML-N party, Leader of the Opposition in Pakistan and former Chief Minister of Punjab, has issued a formal legal complaint against the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online, and its journalist David Rose, about an article published on Sunday, 14 July 2019.

A press release concerning the failure of The Guardian, Der Spiegel and Mediapart to provide an opportunity for Mr Nasser Al Khelaifi to rebut claims made in a forged document. Mr Al Khelaifi will be filing a criminal complaint for forgery and the use of forged material in France.

The Supreme Court's recent clarification of the 'serious harm' threshold for defamation claims has been welcomed by newspapers as a victory for free speech. In fact, it is more likely to mean escalating costs and uncertainty for claimants and defendants alike.

Writing in the Law Society's Gazette, Carter-Ruck Associate Mathilde Groppo analyses the decision and offers a prediction of its likely impact.

The MoD has apologised to Richard Holden, a political advisor, and agreed to pay him substantial damages and the payment of costs, after it breached his privacy and data protection rights by wrongly disclosing documents from his Developed Vetting interview process to the CPS for use in a prosecution against him. Mr Holden was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing by the Judge in the case who told him he "left court without any stain on his character".

Qatari businessman and philanthropist Sheikh Thani Bin Abdullah Bin Thani Al-Thani has donated more than $35 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to help provide aid to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and displaced Yemenis.

Mirror Group Newspapers has issued an unreserved apology and agreed to pay substantial compensation and legal costs to former police Commander Roy Ramm, after the Mirror newspaper published false and defamatory allegations about him on its website in March 2018.

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